Redundancy for streaming data in audio video bridging networks

ABSTRACT

Aspects of a method and system for implementing redundancy for streaming data in audio video bridging networks are provided. Network resources may be reserved over a plurality of network paths. Reserved resources may be utilized for the transmission and/or reception of a corresponding plurality of data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data. A plurality of data streams may be transmitted and/or received by a plurality of network interface hardware devices. Similarly, a plurality of data streams may be transmitted and/or received by a plurality of ports integrated into a single network interface hardware device. Each of the plurality of data streams may be assigned a unique identifier and the identifier of a first data stream may differ by one bit from an identifier of a data stream comprising data redundant to the first data stream.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. application having Ser. No. 11/860,867 filed Sep. 25, 2007, which makes reference to, claims priority to and claims benefit from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/895,788, filed Mar. 20, 2007, both of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention relate to audio video bridging. More specifically, certain embodiments of the invention relate to a method and system for implementing redundancy for streaming data in audio video bridging networks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An increasing amount of data, and in particular multimedia content, transmitted over networks has led to much research into ways to improve the quality and reliability of streaming data over bridged local area networks. Accordingly, the IEEE is in the process of standardizing a suite of protocols collectively known as Audio Video Bridging (AVB). The individual protocols include, among others, IEEE P802.1AS—IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks—Timing and Synchronization for Time-Sensitive Applications in Bridged Local Area Networks, IEEE P801.1Qat—IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks: Virtual Bridged Local Area Networks—Amendment 9: Stream Reservation Protocol (SRP) and IEEE P802.1Qav: IEEE Standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks: Virtual Bridged Local Area Networks—Amendment 11: Forwarding and Queuing for Time-Sensitive Streams.

Applications of these protocols include streaming compressed and/or uncompressed Audio and/or Video between various pieces of equipment. An exemplary transmission may comprise streaming uncompressed audio from an Audio/Video receiver to multiple Networked Speakers over an Ethernet network. In this regard, it may be necessary that the rendering of Audio in all speakers is synchronized so as not to affect the listener's experience. In this manner, the audio video bridging protocols are likely to be deployed in situations where quality of service is paramount to the user experience. However, although these protocols may enable the reliable and timely transmission of data over a fully operational network, they do not provide ways to deal with failures of network links and/or components. Ensuring the quality and reliability of transmitted multimedia data in the event of network link or component failure is critical to success in the marketplace.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and/or method is provided for implementing redundancy for streaming data in audio video bridging networks, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the present invention, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, will be more fully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment that may transmit and/or receive data over a network, in connection with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the transmission and reception of multiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data, to and/or from AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an audio video bridged network that may enable streaming data, in connection with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the use of redundant network interface hardware devices for streaming data in an audio video bridging network, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the use of redundant network ports for streaming data in an audio video bridging network, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the use of multiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data, in an audio video bridging network utilizing link aggregation, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention may be found in a method and system for implementing redundancy for streaming data in an audio video bridging network. Aspects of the invention may enable the transmission and reception of multiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data. In this regard, the streaming data may, for example, comprise multimedia content and the multimedia content may be rendered from multiple received streams such that packet losses and hardware failures have minimal impact on a user's experience. Aspects of the invention may enable implementing redundancy through the use of redundant network interface hardware devices and/or redundant network ports. Additionally, aspects of the invention may enable implementing redundancy in networks that utilize link aggregation protocols. In this manner, multiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data, may traverse a network over multiple paths. In this regard, the paths may, for example, be separate from each other in that no network links are common to both paths. Also, the paths may, for example, be independent in that transmission of data via one path is not contingent on and/or dependent on the type, status, or any other characteristics of the other path.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment that may transmit and/or receive data over a network, in connection with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 100 that comprises a host 106 and a network interface hardware (NIHW) device 114. The NIHW device 114 may further comprise a medium access control (MAC) controller 108 and a transceiver 110, to enable communication over a network. In various embodiments of the invention, the network may, for example, utilize Ethernet technology and may communicate over one or more twisted pair channels. In various embodiments of the invention, the AVB enabled A/V equipment may comprise, for example, a microphone, an instrument, a sound board, a sound card, a video camera, a media player, a graphics card, or other audio and/or video device.

The transceiver 110 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may enable communication, for example, transmission and reception of data, between the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 100 and a network. The transceiver 110 may support, for example, Ethernet operations. The transceiver 110 may enable multi-rate communications, such as 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, 1000 Mbps (or 1 Gbps) and/or 10 Gbps, for example. In this regard, the transceiver 110 may support standard-based data rates and/or non-standard data rates. Moreover, the transceiver 110 may support standard Ethernet link lengths or ranges of operation and/or extended ranges of operation.

The data transmitted and/or received by the transceiver 110 may be formatted in accordance with the well-known OSI protocol standard. The OSI model partitions operability and functionality into seven distinct and hierarchical layers. Generally, each layer in the OSI model is structured so that it may provide a service to the immediately higher interfacing layer. For example, layer 1, or physical (PHY) layer, may provide services to layer 2 and layer 2 may provide services to layer 3. The data transmitted may comprise frames of Ethernet media independent interface (MII) data which may be delimited by start of stream and end of stream delimiters, for example. The data transmitted may also comprise IDLE codes that may be communicated between frames of data.

The host 106 may represent layer 3 and above, the MAC controller 108 may represent layer 2 and above and the transceiver 110 may represent the operability and/or functionality of layer 1 or the PHY layer. In this regard, the transceiver 110 may be referred to as a PHY device or a PHY transceiver, for example. The host 106 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may enable operability and/or functionality of the five highest functional layers for data packets that are to be transmitted over a network. Since each layer in the OSI model provides a service to the immediately higher interfacing layer, the MAC controller 108 may provide the necessary services to the host 106 to ensure that packets are suitably formatted and communicated to the transceiver 110. During transmission, each layer adds its own header to the data passed on from the interfacing layer above it. However, during reception, a compatible device having a similar OSI stack may strip off the headers as the message passes from the lower layers up to the higher layers.

The transceiver 110 may be configured to handle all the physical layer requirements, which include, but are not limited to, packetization, data transfer and serialization/deserialization (SERDES), in instances where such an operation is required. Data packets received by the transceiver 110 from the MAC controller 108 may include data and header information for each of the above six functional layers. The transceiver 110 may be configured to encode data packets that are to be transmitted over a network and/or to decode data packets received from a network.

The MAC controller 108 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may enable handling of data link layer, layer 2, operability and/or functionality in the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 100. The MAC controller 108 may be configured to implement Ethernet protocols, such as those based on the IEEE 802.3 standard, for example. Notwithstanding, the invention is not limited in this regard.

The MAC controller 108 may communicate with the transceiver 110 via an interface 118 and with the host 106 via a bus controller interface 116. The interface 118 may correspond to an Ethernet interface that comprises protocol and/or link management control signals. The interface 118 may be a multi-rate interface and/or media independent interface (MII). The bus controller interface 116 may correspond to a PCI or PCI-X interface. Notwithstanding, the invention is not limited in this regard.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the transmission and reception of multiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data, to and/or from AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 2, the network 200 may comprise network paths 214 a and 214 b and AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 201 a and 201 b. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the AVB enabled A/V equipment may comprise a sound mixer 201 a and an audio recorder 201 b. Each of the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 201 a and 201 b may comprise a host 202 and a network interface hardware (NIHW) device 204. In this regard, the hosts 202 a and 202 b may be similar to or the same as the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 100 disclosed in FIG. 1. The host 202 a may comprise a central processing unit (CPU) 206 a, a memory 208 a, and a chipset 210 a. The CPU 206 a, the memory 208 a, and the chipset 210 a may be communicatively coupled via, for example, a bus 212 a. Similarly, the host 202 b may comprise a central processing unit (CPU) 206 b, a memory 208 b, and a chipset 210 b. The CPU 206 b, the memory 208 b, and the chipset 210 b may be communicatively coupled via, for example, a bus 212 b.

The hosts 202 a and 202 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may enable high reliability transmission and/or reception of streaming data over a network. In this regard, the host 202 a and 202 b may be enabled to interface with the NIHW devices 204 a and 204 b, respectively. In this manner, the hosts 202 a and 202 b may enable utilizing multiple network paths, such as the network paths 214 a and 214 b, to transmit and/or receive multiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data. In this manner, the hosts 202 a and 202 b may enable reliable transmission, reception, and/or presentation of, for example, multimedia content in the presence of dropped/delayed packets and/or network hardware failures. Accordingly, the hosts 202 a and 202 b may enable the utilization and/or support of protocols such as IEEE 802.1AS to synchronize network nodes, and/or IEEE 802.1Qat to reserve resources in a network.

The CPUs 206 a and 206 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may enable the transmission of multiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data, over a network. In this regard, the CPU 206 a may interface with the memory 208 a and/or the chipset 210 a to enable transmission of multiple streams over a corresponding number of network paths. Similarly, the CPU 206 b may interface with the memory 208 b and/or the chipset 210 b to enable transmission of multiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data, over a corresponding number of network paths. Accordingly, the CPUs 206 a and 206 b may, for example, enable utilizing multiple pointers to a data buffer in order to output multiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data. In this regard, the CPUs 206 a and 206 b may enable the packetization of, for example, streaming multimedia content into one or more transport streams, and may packetize the same content multiple times. Additionally, the CPUs 206 a and 206 b may enable assigning a unique stream identifier to each stream, and this stream ID, for example, may be placed in a header field of the transport packets. For example, the transport stream may be an MPEG transport stream and the stream ID may be carried in a “packet ID” field. Additionally, each transport packet may comprise sequencing information such as a precision clock reference, a decode timestamp, and a presentation time stamp.

The CPUs 206 a and 206 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may enable the reception of multiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data. In this regard, multiple transport packets may comprise, for example, the same multimedia content. Accordingly, if a packet comprising a first stream is lost/corrupted it may be replaced with a corresponding redundant packet comprising a second stream. The CPU 206 a may interface with the memory 208 a and/or the chipset 210 a to enable identification of multiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data, and to enable determination of which stream's data to utilize for rendering/presentation. Similarly, the CPU 206 b may interface with the memory 208 b and/or the chipset 210 b to enable identification of multiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data, and to enable determination of which stream's data to utilize for rendering/presentation. In this regard, the CPUs 206 a and 206 b may be enabled to detect multiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data, via the unique stream identifier assigned to each stream. Additionally, sequencing information comprising the received streams may be utilized to determine if packets have been dropped and/or corrupted from the data streams.

The memories 208 a and 208 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may enable storage of information regarding the networking operations and/or service applications supported by the CPU 206 a and 206 b and/or the chipsets 210 a and 210 b, respectively. Accordingly, the memories 208 a and 208 b may, for example, enable buffering received data and/or storing instructions that may be executed by the processor 206 a and 206 b and/or the chipsets 210 a and 210 b, respectively. Also, the memories 208 a and 208 b may enable buffering one or more copies of data to be transmitted. In this regard, the memories 208 a and 208 b may enable replicating data to support transmission of multiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data.

The chipsets 210 a and 210 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may enable supporting of memory management, PCI master and arbitrator, graphics interface, I/O master for USB, audio, and/or peripheral devices, for example. In this regard, the chipset 210 may comprise at least one integrated circuit (IC) that provides services in support of the CPU 206 operations. In this regard, the chipset may, for example, enable encoding/decoding, compressing/decompressing, rendering, and/or presenting multimedia data. In some instances, the services provided by the chipsets 210 a and 210 b may be implemented in separate ICs. The choice of one or more ICs for implementing the chipsets 210 a and 210 b may be based on the number and/or type of services provided.

The NIHW devices 204 a and 204 b may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may enable acting as an interface between a network and the hosts 202 a and 202 b, respectively. In this regard, the NIHW devices 204 a and 204 b may enable receiving, for example, streaming multimedia content from the multiple network paths 214 a and 214 b and may enable communicating the data to the hosts 202 a and 202 b, respectively. Similarly, the NIHW devices 204 a and 204 b may enable receiving data from the hosts 202 a and 202 b, respectively, and transmitting the data onto multiple network paths, such as the paths 214 a and 214 b. Accordingly, the NIHW devices 204 a and 204 b may be similar to or the same as the NIHW device 114 disclosed in FIG. 1.

In an exemplary operation, the host 202 b may request multimedia content from the host 202 a. The hosts 202 a and 202 b may first synchronize to one another utilizing a standard such as IEEE 802.1AS. The host 202 b may utilize a protocol such as IEEE 802.1Qat to reserve resources over each of the network paths 214 a and 214 b. Accordingly, the host may establish two paths over the network. In this regard, path 214 a and 214 b may, for example, be separate from each other in that no network links between hosts 202 a and 202 b are shared. Although separate paths may provide better fault protection in the event of a failure, the paths may comprise one or more common links if completely separate paths are not possible. For example, a piece of AVB enabled NV equipment may be capable of only connecting to a single physical link. Also, the two paths may, for example, be independent of each other in that transmission of data over path 214 a is not contingent on and/or dependent on the type, status, or any other characteristics of the path 214 b. Although independent paths may provide better fault protection in the event of a failure, certain instances may arise where completely independent paths are not possible, for example, when a piece of AVB enabled A/V equipment comprises only a single network port. Once the SRP reservations are established, the host 202 a may begin transmitting two streams, stream A and stream B, onto the two paths 214 a and 214 b, respectively. Accordingly, the stream A and stream B may comprise essentially the same multimedia content, but may be communicated to the host 202 b multiple times over different network paths. In this regard, the streams may, for example, differ in packet headers and/or dropped/corrupted packets.

The host 202 b may receive the two streams and may identify the streams, for example, utilizing the unique stream ID. Accordingly, the host 202 b may enable utilizing one stream as a primary stream and the other stream as a supplemental stream. For example, the host 202 b may decide to utilize the stream A as the primary stream and may only utilize content from stream B when data comprising stream A is missing or corrupted. Accordingly, if a packet is missing from stream A, the host 202 b may enable replacing the lost data with the corresponding redundant data comprising stream B. In this manner, as long as the same data is not lost from both streams A and B, the host 202 b may be able to fully reconstruct/render the multimedia content without any loss of quality. Similarly, if there is a failure along network path 214 a, the host 202 b may enable recognizing the failure and may enable utilizing stream B as the primary data stream. In this manner, a complete loss of a data stream may have little or no impact on the multimedia content presented to a user by the host 202 b. In this regard, sequencing information comprising the streams may be utilized to detect lost packets and/or data.

In reconstructing/rendering the multimedia content from the two data streams, the host 202 b may utilize one or more timing parameters known for the network to ensure that lost and/or otherwise compromised packets will not impact the user experience. For example, if nodes along network paths 214 a and 214 b adhere to a standard such as IEEE 802.1Qav, then latencies may be guaranteed for each of the paths 214 a and 214 b. Accordingly, a minimum buffer size in the host may be determined, for example, based on the maximum and minimum delays in the network. To explain, if stream A is primary and arrives 10 ms before stream B, then at least 10 ms of stream A may need to be buffered. In this manner, if a packet is lost from stream A, the corresponding packet will arrive on stream B before the buffer under-runs and the packet is required to be rendered/presented. Although only two network paths are illustrated, the invention is not limited in this regard. Accordingly, additional network paths may be utilized to provide additional resilience to network failures.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an audio video bridged network that may enable streaming data, in connection with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 3, the network 300 may comprise AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 302 a and 302 b, network links 308 a and 308 b, and an audio video bridging (AVB) switch 310.

The AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 302 a may comprise a NIHW device 304 a which in turn may comprise a network port 306 a. Similarly, the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 302 b may comprise a NIHW device 304 b which in turn may comprise a network port 306 b. The AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 302 a and 302 b and their respective NIHW devices 304 a and 304 b may enable transmission and reception of data over the network links 308 a and 308 b, respectively. In this regard, the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 302 a and 302 b may be similar to the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 201 a and 201 b disclosed in FIG. 2. Additionally, the NIHW devices 304 a and 304 b may be similar to the NIHW devices 204 a and 204 b disclosed in FIG. 2.

The ports 306 a and 306 b may comprise suitable logic circuitry and/or code that may enable interfacing to the network links 308 a and 308 b. In this regard, the links 308 a and 308 b may, for example, comprise copper, fiber, and/or wireless transmission media. For example, the ports 306 a and 306 b may enable interfacing to an eight position modular connector for an Ethernet over twisted pair (10/100/1000/10 GBase-T) network.

The audio/video bridging (AVB) switch 310 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and or code that may enable the reception and transmission of streaming data in applications where timing and/or high quality of service (QoS) is required. In this regard, the switch 310 may support protocols such as IEEE 802.1 as—Timing and Synchronization for Time-Sensitive Applications in Bridged Local Area Networks, IEEE 802.1Qat—Stream Reservation Protocol (SRP), and IEEE 802.1Qav—Forwarding and Queuing for Time-Sensitive Streams.

In an exemplary operation, the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 302 b may request and subsequently receive streaming data from the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 302 a. Prior to transmission, a protocol such as IEEE 802.1 as may be utilized to synchronize the switch 310 and the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 302 b to the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 302 a. Next, a standard such as IEEE 802.1Qat may be utilized to reserve resources in the switch 310. After synchronization and network setup, the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 302 a may begin transmitting data onto the link 308 a. Consequently, the data may arrive at the switch 310 and the switch 310 may forward the data onto the link 308 b. In this regard, the switch may adhere to one or more standards such as IEEE 802.1Qav to guarantee a minimum quality of service for the traffic transmitted from the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 302 a to the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 302 b. The data may arrive at the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 302 b where it may be rendered and/or presented to a user. In the network 300, if the switch 310, the link 308 a, and/or the link 308 b fail, then the data stream may cease to arrive at the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 302 b.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the use of redundant network interface hardware devices for streaming data in an audio video bridging network, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 4, the network may comprise AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 402 a and 402 b, AVB switches 410 a and 410 b, and network links 408 a, 408 b, 408 c, and 408 d.

The AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 402 a and 402 b may be similar to the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 302 a and 302 b disclosed in FIG. 3. However, in comparison to the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 302 a and 302 b, the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 402 a and 402 b may each comprise one or more additional NIHW devices 404. In this regard, the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 402 a and 402 b may enable the transmission and/or reception of multiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data.

The NIHW devices 404 a, 404 b, 404 c, and 404 d may be similar to or the same as the NIHW devices 304 a and 304 b. The AVB switches 410 a and 410 b may be similar to or the same as the AVB switch 310. The network links 408 a, 408 b, 408 c, and 408 d may be similar to or the same as the network links 308 a and 308 b.

In an exemplary operation, the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 402 b may request and subsequently receive streaming data from the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 402 a. However, prior to transmission of the data, a protocol such as IEEE 802.1 as may be utilized to synchronize the switches 410 a and 410 b and the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 402 b to the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 402 a. Next, a standard such as IEEE 802.1Qat may be utilized to reserve resources in the switches 410 a and 410 b. In this regard, a SRP reservation 412 a may be initiated by the NIHW device 404 b and a SRP reservation 412 b may be initiated by the NIHW device 404 d. Each reservation may be assigned a unique stream ID and the two SRP reservations may exist in parallel and may establish a different path across the network. Accordingly, a first stream may be communicated over a path comprising the NIHW device 404 a, the link 408 a, the switch 410 a, the link 408 b, and the NIHW device 404 b. A second stream may be communicated over a path comprising the NIHW device 404 c, the link 408 c, the switch 410 b, the link 408 d, and the NIHW device 404 d.

After synchronization and network setup, the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 402 a may begin transmitting two data streams, wherein one of the streams may comprise redundant data, onto the links 408 a and 408 c. In order to differentiate the two streams, each of the streams may comprise a unique stream identifier. For example, the two streams may be addressed to two different multicast addresses.

The NIHW devices 404 b and 404 d may receive the two streams via the links 408 b and 408 d, respectively, and the data comprising each stream may be made available to a CPU, such as the CPU 206 b, comprising the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 402 b. Accordingly, the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 402 b may utilize the data comprising either stream for rendering and/or presenting. In this regard, sequencing information comprising the streams may be utilized to determine if packets have been lost from either stream. In this manner, failure of one of the network links 408 a, 408 b, 408 c, or 408 d; or one of the switches 410 a or 410 b may not result in a loss of the data at the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 402 b. Although only two network paths are illustrated, the invention is not limited in this regard. Accordingly, additional SRP reservations may be made over additional paths to provide increased resilience to network failures.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the use of redundant network ports for streaming data in an audio video bridging network, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 5, the network may comprise AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 502 a and 502 b, AVB switches 510 a and 510 b, and network links 508 a, 508 b, 508 c, and 508 d.

The AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 502 a and 502 b may comprise a NIHW device 504 a and 504 b, respectively. In this manner, the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 502 a and 502 b may be similar to the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 302 a and 302 b disclosed in FIG. 3. However, in comparison to the NIHW devices 304 a and 304 b, the NIHW devices 504 a and 504 b may comprise one or more additional network ports 506. In this regard, the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 502 a and 502 b may enable the transmission and/or reception of multiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data.

The ports 506 a, 506 b, 506 c, and 506 d may be similar to or the same as the ports 306 a and 306 b. The AVB switches 510 a and 510 b may be similar to or the same as the AVB switch 310. The network links 508 a, 508 b, 508 c, and 508 d may be similar to or the same as the network links 308 a and 308 b.

In an exemplary operation, the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 502 b may request and subsequently receive streaming data from the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 502 a. However, prior to transmission of the data, a protocol such as IEEE 802.1 as may be utilized to synchronize the switches 510 a and 510 b and the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 502 b to the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 502 a. Next, a standard such as IEEE 802.1Qat may be utilized to reserve resources in the switches 510 a and 510 b. In this regard, a SRP reservation 512 a may be initiated by the port 506 b and a SRP reservation 512 b may be initiated by the port 506 d. Each reservation may be assigned a unique stream ID and the two SRP reservations may exist in parallel and may establish a different path across the network. Accordingly, a first stream may be communicated over a path comprising the port 506 a, the link 508 a, the switch 510 a, the link 508 b, and the port 506 b. A second stream may be communicated over along a path comprising the port 506 c, the link 508 c, the switch 510 b, the link 508 d, and the port 506 d.

After synchronization and network setup, the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 502 a may begin transmitting two data streams, wherein one of the streams may comprise redundant data, onto the links 508 a and 508 b. In order to differentiate the two streams, each of the streams may comprise a unique stream identifier. For example, the two streams may be addressed to two different multicast addresses, for example.

The ports 506 b and 506 d may receive the two streams via the links 508 b and 508 d, respectively, and the data comprising each stream may be made available to a CPU, such as the CPU 206 b, comprising the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 502 b. Accordingly, the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 502 b may utilize the data comprising either stream for rendering and/or presenting. In this regard, sequencing information comprising the streams may be utilized to determine if packets have been lost from either stream. In this manner, failure of one of the network links 508 a, 508 b, 508 c, or 508 d; or one or the switches 510 a or 510 b may not result in a loss of the data at the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 502 b. Although only two network paths are illustrated, the invention is not limited in this regard. Accordingly, additional SRP reservations may be made over additional paths to provide additional resilience to network failures.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the use of multiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data, in an audio video bridging network utilizing link aggregation, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 6, the network may comprise AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 602 a and 602 b, AVB switch 610, network links 608 a, 608 b, 608 c, and 608 d.

The network 600 may differ from the network 500 in that link aggregation may be utilized in the connection between AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 602 a and 602 b. Accordingly, the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 602 a and 602 b may comprise link aggregated ports 606 a and 606 b. Similarly, the switches 610 a and 610 b may be configured to implement link aggregation.

Link aggregation allows two network nodes to create a single logical connection to communicate over multiple network links in parallel. In this manner, the effective bandwidth is increased in a link aggregated connection. Additionally, link aggregation may make a network link more robust by providing link switch over in the event of a link failure. In this regard, if one of the aggregated physical links fails, a network node may detect the failure and may then divert traffic from the failed link to one of the parallel links. However, detection of a failed aggregated link may take too long to prevent the failure from impacting the quality of a stream.

In a link aggregated connection, a port on which to transmit data may be assigned utilizing, for example, a CRC32 hash. Accordingly, there may be instances in which the same port may be utilized to transmit multiple data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data. In this manner, by assigning stream IDs that only differ by 1 bit to the streams, algorithms utilized for load balancing in link aggregated connections may reserve resources over different ports and/or paths. For example, when reserving resources for two data streams, wherein one the streams may comprise redundant data, the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 602 b may assign a 2-bit stream ID of 00 to a first stream, and may assign a stream ID of 01 to a second stream. In this manner, the first SRP reservation may utilize a first of the link aggregated ports 606 b and the second SRP reservation may utilize a second of the link aggregated ports 606 b.

Aspects of a method and system for implementing redundancy for streaming data in audio video bridging networks are provided. Network resources may be reserved over a plurality of network paths. For example, the SRP reservations 412 a and 412 b disclosed in FIG. 4 reserve resources in the switches 410 a and 410 b, respectively. Reserved resources may be utilized for the transmission and/or reception of a corresponding plurality of data streams, wherein one or more of the streams may comprise redundant data. In this regard, reserved resources may, for example, comprise bandwidth in a switch, such as the switches 410 a, 410 b, 510 a, 510 b, and 610. A plurality of data streams may be transmitted and/or received by a plurality of network interface hardware devices comprising AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment. For example, the NIHW devices 404 a and 404 c comprising the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 402 a in FIG. 4. Similarly, a plurality of data streams may be transmitted and/or received by a plurality of ports integrated into a single network interface hardware device. For example, the ports 506 a and 506 c integrated in the NIHW device 504 a in FIG. 5. Each of the plurality of data streams may be assigned a unique identifier and the identifier of a first data stream may differ by one bit from an identifier of a data stream comprising data redundant to the first data stream. An AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment such as the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 402 b or 502 b may utilize latencies in the network for processing a plurality of received streams. For example, the latency information may be utilized to determine necessary buffer sizes. Received streams may comprise sequencing information, that AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment, such as the AVB enabled Audio/Video equipment 402 b or 502 b, may utilize in determining which stream's data to, for example, render/present to the user.

Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. The present invention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least one computer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elements are spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind of computer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware and software may be a general-purpose computer system with a computer program that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computer system such that it carries out the methods described herein.

The present invention may also be embedded in a computer program product, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer system is able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the present context means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversion to another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different material form.

While the present invention has been described with reference to certain embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of the present invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims. 

1. A method for computer networking, the method comprising: in an audio video bridging network, reserving network resources over a plurality of network paths; and transmitting a plurality of data streams over said plurality of network paths utilizing said reserved network resources, wherein one or more of said plurality of data streams comprises data redundant to a first of said plurality of data streams.
 2. The method according to claim 1, comprising transmitting said plurality of data streams utilizing a corresponding plurality of ports integrated into one or more network interface hardware devices.
 3. The method according to claim 1, comprising assigning a first stream identifier to said first of said plurality of data streams; and assigning an additional unique stream identifier to each of said one or more of said plurality of data streams comprising said redundant data, wherein each of said additional unique stream identifiers differs from said first stream identifier.
 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein each of said additional unique stream identifiers differs from said first stream identifier by one bit.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of network paths is separate from others of said plurality of network paths.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of network paths is independent from others of said plurality of network paths.
 7. A method for computer networking, the method comprising: in an audio video bridging network, reserving network resources over a plurality of network paths; and receiving a plurality of data streams over said plurality of network paths utilizing said reserved network resources, wherein one or more of said plurality of data streams comprises data redundant to a first of said plurality of data streams.
 8. The method according to claim 7, comprising receiving said plurality of data streams utilizing a corresponding plurality of ports integrated into one or more network interface hardware devices.
 9. The method according to claim 7, comprising identifying said first of said plurality of data streams based on a first stream identifier comprising said first of said plurality of data streams; and identifying each of said one or more of said plurality of data streams comprising said redundant data based on a unique stream identifier associated with each of said one or more of said plurality of data streams comprising said redundant data, wherein each said unique stream identifier differs from said first stream identifier.
 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein each said unique stream identifier differs from said first stream identifier by one bit.
 11. The method according to claim 7, wherein each of said plurality of network paths is separate from others of said plurality of network paths.
 12. The method according to claim 7, wherein each of said plurality of network paths is independent from others of said plurality of network paths.
 13. The method according to claim 7, comprising processing said plurality of data streams based on sequencing information associated with said plurality of data streams.
 14. The method according to claim 7, comprising processing said plurality of data streams based on latencies characterizing each of said plurality of data streams.
 15. A system for computer networking, the system comprising: in an audio video bridging network, circuitry that enable reserving network resources over a plurality of network paths; and said circuitry enables communicating a plurality of data streams over said plurality of network paths utilizing said reserved network resources, wherein one or more of said plurality of data streams comprises data redundant to a first of said plurality of data streams.
 16. The system according to claim 15, wherein said circuitry enable transmitting or receiving said plurality of data streams utilizing a corresponding plurality of ports integrated into one or more network interface hardware device.
 17. The system according to claim 15, wherein said circuitry enables assigning a first stream identifier to said first of said plurality of data streams; and said one or more processors enable assigning an additional unique stream identifier to each of said one or more of said plurality of data streams comprising said redundant data, wherein each of said additional unique stream identifiers differs from said first stream identifier.
 18. The system according to claim 17, wherein each of said additional unique stream identifiers differs from said first stream identifier by one bit.
 19. The system according to claim 15, wherein each of said plurality of network paths is separate from others of said plurality of network paths.
 20. The system according to claim 15, wherein said circuitry enables identifying said first of said plurality of data streams based on a first stream identifier comprising said first of said plurality of data streams; and said circuitry enables identifying each of said one or more of said plurality of data streams comprising said redundant data based on a unique stream identifier associated with each of said one or more of said plurality of data streams comprising said redundant data, wherein each said unique stream identifier differs from said first stream identifier. 